“Doesn’t look like they’re going to sign the fight, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen, all because Eddie and AJ want more money. They’ve already had that much money off Turki in the last few years. They’ve had boxing deals. They’ve had darts deals,” said Fury on social media. “They’ve had snooker deals. They’ve had everything. Yet they’ve got the audacity and cheek to ask for more money from old Turki. I tell you what, it’s disgusting.”
The attack was crude, but Fury made a point that is likely to connect with fans who have watched Joshua receive enormous Saudi-backed opportunities. Joshua faced Otto Wallin in Riyadh in December 2023, returned for the Francis Ngannou event there the following year, and later fought Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium on another Alalshikh-backed card.
Hearn has also developed a wider business relationship with Saudi organizers through Matchroom’s boxing events. Fury argued that Joshua and his promoter have already benefited heavily from Alalshikh’s investment but are still demanding better terms before accepting the biggest fight available to them.
“All this talk of, ‘We want the fight in England, we want this, we want that.’ It’s only to get more money to go to America,” Fury said. “Look at the money you have had off Turki, and yet you’re still asking to do darts deals and snooker deals off the back of my fight.”
The unusual part is that Fury sounds content with his offer. He says he will go wherever Alalshikh and Zuffa want to stage the fight without demanding a location premium. Joshua and Hearn are the ones pushing for more money and allowing the venue issue to delay the agreement.
“I bent over backwards to make this fight happen,” Fury said. “First of all, it was in England. Then it was in Ireland. Then it was in America. I said, ‘I’ll go anywhere. I’m not interested where the fight is. I just want to fight.’”
That willingness places Fury in a strong position from which to scold Joshua. He can portray himself as the cooperative fighter who accepted the money, the location, and every party involved. Joshua is left looking as if he risks endangering a long-awaited event by demanding a larger purse to travel to New York.
A British stadium may be Joshua’s preference, but that location does not serve Alalshikh’s plans or Netflix’s interest in staging the fight during American prime time. Madison Square Garden also gives Zuffa a valuable platform for placing its fighters on the undercard as the company moves deeper into boxing.
With the amount Alalshikh has invested in Joshua, asking him to accept New York does not sound unreasonable. It would be a reciprocal gesture toward the financier who made the event possible and supported several of Joshua’s largest paydays.
The former champion would not be fighting in obscurity or surrendering his place in the promotion. Madison Square Garden remains one of boxing’s most prestigious venues, and Netflix would place the fight before a large American audience.
Even if Alalshikh grants every request in Hearn’s addendum and gives Joshua a substantial financial bump, the immediate gain could carry a much larger cost. Their relationship with Alalshikh has already generated far more than the earnings from one event.
Alalshikh can accept their demands and still take a different view of future business with Joshua and Matchroom. Other fighters and promoters are competing for the same financial backing, dates, and opportunities. Making this agreement unnecessarily difficult gives him little reason to remain as accommodating the next time.
Joshua and Hearn have every right to negotiate the best terms available. How far they should press the person financing the fight and creating another enormous payday for Joshua is another matter.
Fury’s account has not been supported with purse figures, contracts, or a detailed response from Joshua’s team. A significant change from a British stadium to Madison Square Garden can justify renegotiating parts of the deal. How much Joshua should require before helping Alalshikh deliver an event that benefits Netflix and Zuffa is less clear.
An improved offer may settle the dispute, but it will not answer the larger question. After everything Alalshikh has made possible for Joshua and Hearn, where is the thank you?
